Seeing that the emperor was going to personally review the papers, the four great Vajras subconsciously wanted to dissuade him, but they heard the Heavenly Official Yang Bo bow and smile:

"Your Majesty has finally become diligent. This is cause for celebration..."

Don't forget, the cabinet movement at this time last year started with his impeachment. The Heavenly Official was scolded by the censors no less than Gao Gong...

Yang Bo has reached the level where he can take advantage of his seniority and doesn't care what the rules are.

I will never be polite if I can do anything to undermine Lord Xu.

The four Vajras looked at Zhang Juzheng again, and seeing that Prime Minister Zhang was also helpless, they had no choice but to shut up.

After all, the emperor is the chief examiner of the palace examination.

These examiners were not even examiners. They were just tools to help the emperor read the papers.

~~

Feng Bao then knelt before the emperor holding a stack of papers, while Zhang Juzheng sat on the other side. After the emperor read a paper, he wrote down his opinion on it.

The ten examiners could not continue marking the papers and had to stand outside the hall and wait.

They were not too panicked at first because the imperial edict would be filled out tomorrow.

How many copies could the emperor read by nightfall? If he ran out of time, wouldn't he have to wait for their help?

But what was unexpected was that Emperor Longqing's speed in marking the papers was surprisingly fast. He could finish reading a 3,000-4,000-word policy paper in about ten breaths...faster than marking college entrance examination essays in later generations.

"This one is good, I'll give it a thumbs up."

"This one is not good, I'll give it a low rating"

"That's well said, well said, at least in the top ten..."

I listened to the emperor's constant comments, and he read nearly a hundred copies in one hour.

The examiners were completely dumbfounded and could not help but whisper:

"What the hell can you see?"

"Who knows? Comparing calligraphy?"

"Alas, this year's candidates are in trouble."

"Someone go tell Yuan Fu."

"What's the point of saying that? His Majesty has asked Teng Xiang to look after him..."

At this point, if you still can't appreciate the flavor of this, you won't be able to get a position in the ministry.

~~

Emperor Longqing was like a poor child who got his first toy. He was having so much fun playing with the four hundred papers that he even ignored Feng Bao's reminder that it was time for dinner.

"Your Majesty works day and night, and we admire you so much!" Duke Chengguo flattered him.

As a result, before 3 p.m., Longqing had already scanned the 403 papers. Looking at the vermilion words "good, high score", "bad, low score", and "excellent, top ten" on the papers, the emperor stood up with satisfaction, stretched his back and said:

"How's my speed?"

"It's as fast as lightning! So fast that we can't even open our eyes." Duke Chengguo immediately praised mercilessly: "The emperor is the emperor, and we can't imagine it with our mortal eyes."

"Hahaha, I just took a quick look at it. You guys will have to take a closer look."

Emperor Longqing then remembered what modesty meant and said, "I am sorry for interrupting your meal. Please continue after lunch."

"Your Majesty, we respectfully bid farewell to you..." The examiners, who were almost fainting from hunger, felt as if they had been pardoned.

"By the way, ask the imperial kitchen to prepare a few more dishes for everyone," Long Qing instructed Feng Bao as he walked out.

"Don't catch fish from the south. They travel thousands of miles and are prone to spoiling."

Zhang Juzheng almost fell to the ground after hearing this, and couldn't help but shout in his heart -

Your Majesty, have you become stupid by hanging out with a bunch of eunuchs all day? I didn't even mention what illness Lord Xu had, so how do you know it was the fish's problem?

Isn't this just confessing one's own crime?

The faces of several ministers were indeed filled with astonishment, unable to conceal it...

This time even Zhang Xianggong didn't dare to mend the pot. He could only send the emperor away as if nothing had happened, and then turned to the examiners and said, "Let's eat first."

We had lunch in Wenhua Hall and the atmosphere was very depressing.

Everyone had their own thoughts, and the two old fellows, Duke Cheng and Yang Bo, were still there telling jokes heartlessly.

But no one paid any attention to them.

Everyone looked at the papers on the table nearby, which were all covered with red-ink comments, and clearly felt the ruthless mockery.

"Mr. Zhang, don't just eat in silence. Give us an idea, or ask the Prime Minister for an idea..." Wang Ting finally couldn't help but urge Zhang Juzheng.

"The red-ink comments have already been written on the paper. What else is there to say?" Zhang Juzheng put down his chopsticks, took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe his mouth, and then carefully wiped his lip mustache.

"This time, let's follow your majesty's wishes..."

The ministers also knew that the imperial edict had been issued, and even Lord Xu could not change it. They said this just to clear themselves of responsibility and to explain to Lord Xu later.

"I asked Prime Minister Zhang to consult the Prime Minister, but Prime Minister Zhang said forget it this time. What can I do?"

~~

After the examination began in the afternoon, Zhang Juzheng first divided the 403 papers into three parts according to the red-ink comments.

One copy was marked "bad", and there were more than three hundred copies, which were distributed to the examiners, who were allowed to mark them as they pleased.

Then he took the papers, which were marked "good" and "excellent" by the emperor, and read them carefully. There were about eighty or ninety papers.

Although Mr. Zhang could read ten lines at a glance, he could not compare with the godlike emperor. As a result, he stayed up all night until four o'clock in the morning before he finished reading the entire paper.

Zhang Juzheng was a man of great energy. He was still wide awake at this moment, and suggested to the yawning examiners:

"It will be dawn soon, let's just sort out the rankings and then go to sleep together."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, sir." The examiners were completely thrown off their rhythm, and since they hadn't slept all night, they felt dizzy and had headaches, so they basically let him do whatever he wanted.

Zhang Juzheng took out the fifteen papers he had selected and distributed them to the crowd, saying, "Everyone, take a look. How about presenting these papers to His Majesty?"

As you all know, the top three will be chosen from here. Even if the test paper does not make it to the top one, it will be ranked very high in the second place.

So they forced themselves to keep alert and passed around the papers of the lucky ones.

"Well, it's really good." Yang Bo has been leading troops in battles for many years and is in good health. Although he is the oldest, his spirit is no worse than Zhang Juzheng.

After looking at a few papers, the old official stroked his beard and smiled, "Your Majesty is indeed Your Majesty. You have indeed selected several talented people with such a selection."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, the adults became interested and came over to take a look at the ones that Yang Bo praised highly.

As expected, they are all powerful articles with extensive citations and sophisticated writing. It can also be seen that the author's understanding of relevant government affairs is more familiar than that of ordinary officials.

What is even more commendable is that he has broad thinking and meaningful words. He neither engages in unrealistic talk nor is he bound by established rules and dares not go beyond the line.

Such articles are really refreshing and clear-minded. As the examiner read on, he felt less sleepy and became interested in talking.

"To be honest, I spent a whole day looking at the test papers, but I didn't read such an insightful article."

Zhu Dashou also praised him and said, "Ten years ago, I didn't have such superhuman insight."

"Yes, these people have a thorough understanding of the refugee problem. I am deeply inspired." Minister of Finance Ma Sen said, "I must talk to them face to face later."

"That's right," said the Minister of War Huo Ji, with an incredible look on his face, "They understand the Tartars too thoroughly. I feel that their strategy is feasible."

"Could it be that Your Majesty really has some magical power? How could he identify these talented people so accurately in such a short time?" Wang Ting scratched his head in disbelief. He had been looking for a whole day and had not seen many that could match this.

"Then it is settled." Seeing that they were all convinced, Zhang Juzheng was about to collect the papers and said, "These papers will be presented to the emperor for review again."

ps. Second update, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~